Man high on cocaine and cannabis ploughed car into lamppost near Sheffield Parkway during 115mph police chase

A man high on a cocktail of cocaine, cannabis and booze reached speeds of 115mph during a police chase that ended with him crashing his uninsured car into a lamppost near to Sheffield Parkway, a court heard.

Sarah Marshall

A man high on a cocktail of cocaine, cannabis and booze reached speeds of 115mph during a police chase that ended with him crashing his uninsured car into a lamppost near to Sheffield Parkway, a court heard.

Daniel Lowrie was handed 10 weeks in prison during a sentencing at Sheffield Crown Court today, after the 22-year-old admitted to a string of charges including dangerous driving relating to the crash that took place on January 21 this year.

Prosecuting, Ian West, told the court how at around 1.30am that morning, a police officer in an unmarked car spotted Lowrie, who only holds a provisional license, driving along Handsworth Road in an unregistered Volvo at 'excess speed'.

He said: "She put her lights on and asked him to stop, and instead of slowing down he accelerated and sped away towards Sheffield Parkway.

"There were speeds of up to 115mph at one point."

Mr West explained how Lowrie reached a roundabout shortly afterwards, and narrowly missed crashing into a barrier.

He then came off the Parkway at the Park Hill roundabout, lost control of the vehicle which ploughed into a lamppost and ended up on its roof.

Significant damage was caused to the vehicle and lammpost, and the sliproad to the Parkway had to be closed for a number of hours following the crash, the court was told.

Lowrie suffered minor injuries to his hand in the crash, and was found to be four times over the 'legal' limit of cocaine in his system, as well as having traces of alcohol and cannabis in his bloodstream.

Defending, Dan Foster, called Lowrie's conduct on the night of the offence 'foolish, immature and dangerous' - but added he was a young man dealing with considerable 'difficulties' in his life including the poor health of his mother and step-father, the latter of whom is terminally ill.

Mr Foster told the court that Lowrie had been 'self-medicating' with substances such as cocaine, cannabis and alcohol at the time of the offence.

Judge Sarah Wright told Lowrie he was lucky no-one had been seriously injured in the collision.

She said: "This was reckless behaviour which put innocent lives at substantial risk."

Lowrie was also disqualified from driving for three years, after which time he will be required to take an extended driving test before being able to get behind the wheel.